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12/21/2006 Gaming Board announces its casino picks (Ed Goppelt)

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• Hallwatch News

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board makes it picks
2006/12/21 The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced which casino projects it was approving yesterday. In Philadelphia, the Board chose to award licenses to two projects with significant public opposition: SugarHouse and Foxwoods.

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Mayor John Street & Shawn Fordham
2006/12/21 Mayor Street is telling reporters he thinks it was a mistake for South Philadelphia community groups to refuse to speak with successful casino applicant Foxwoods. Listen to a snippet of the Mayor's remarks.

Until now the Mayor hasn't said much publicly about gambling, but on Wednesday he said quite a bit:

• He supports the Gaming Board's licensing decision.
• He thinks the Gaming Board's public input process was "more than adequate."
• He thinks the Board's decision to license two riverfront casinos will "raise the bar considerably" on traffic, but that the problem is manageable. He wants to build two new I-95 ramps, one is South Philly, the other in Fishtown as soon as possible.

View a video of the Mayor's remarks to reporters.

Shawn Fordham (arms crossed) is the former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Gaming Advisory Task Force. He is also the Mayor's nephew.

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View from the stage
2006/12/21 The meeting was held in the Forum, a large public auditorium in the Capitol in Harrisburg.

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Satellite news trucks crowd Walnut St. in Harrisburg
2006/12/21 The media were out in force yesterday. Both the Inquirer and Daily News covered the license awards in depth. Since the applications were filed last December, the papers' coverage of the casino issue has often been spotty and superficial. Here are some of yesterday's reports:

• On the Waterfront (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/06, 1213 words)
• And the winner is ... Majestic Star (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 12/21/06, 1067 words)
• Sandra Shea | For longest-shot license winners, it's about politics -and it isn't (Philadelphia Daily News, 12/21/06, 915 words)
• Board's unanimous choices will bookend Penn's Landing (Philadelphia Daily News, 12/21/06, 858 words)
• Editorial | A distressing duo (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/06, 568 words)
• SugarHouse reaction is sweet and sour (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/06, 502 words)
• Foxwoods casino in South Philly -- Cars, Crime and Cynicism (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/21/06, 499 words)
• Casino neighbors cry foul (Metro, 01/01/70, 384 words)

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Local investors in the SugarHouse Casino
2006/12/21 From left to right are John Donnelly, Robert Potamkin, Richard Sprague, his daughter Barbara Sprague and Bill Lamb.

Donnelly of Levine, Staller, Sklar of Atlantic City represented SugarHouse in its successful bid for a license. He is not an investor. Potamkin, Richard Sprague, Barbara Sprague and Bill Lamb are local investors in the project. Barbara Sprague and Potamkin own 6.56% and 6.73% share. Lamb owns 2.95%. Richard Sprague owns a nominal share of the company.